This file photo provided by the Hidalgo County (Texas) Sheriff's Office, shows Pascale Ferrier. Ferrier, a Canadian woman, has pleaded guilty to mailing a threatening letter containing the poison ricin to then-president Donald Trump. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Hidalgo County (Texas) Sheriff's Office, via AP File
WASHINGTON – A Quebec woman has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison after sending a poison-laced letter to former president Donald Trump.
Pascale Ferrier, 56, agreed to the sentence as part of a plea agreement back in January, but D.C. district court Judge Dabney Friedrich didn’t sign off until today.
The French-born Ferrier pleaded guilty to a total of nine biological weapons charges, each of which carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.
She was arrested at the Canada-U.S. border in September 2020 and charged with sending Trump a threatening letter laced with the homemade poison ricin.
The letter, intercepted two months before the 2020 presidential election, described Trump as an “ugly tyrant clown” and urged him to give up the race.
Eight of the nine charges are tied to an indictment in Texas, where Ferrier was accused of sending similar letters to police and prison officials.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.
